Coachella Valley home prices have been rising for 15 consecutive months

A new micro housing development is going up in Palm Springs. The one and two bedroom home are sized between 600 and 1000 square feet. H3K Design provided the interior look of the homes. (June 28, 2017)
Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

Buy Photo

Real estate sign on for a house on the N Vista Vespero in Palm Springs, Friday, June 23, 2017.(Photo11: Richard Lui/The Desert Sun)Buy Photo

The Coachella Valley's median home price climbed to $327,000 in June, up 10.7 percent year over year, according to data from real estate research firm CoreLogic DataQuick.

The region's median price has now risen year over year in every month since April 2016 — making June the 15th consecutive month of increases.

"Like the rest of California, we are now experiencing a drop in inventory of available homes and condos for sale, but we are exceeding the numbers from just two years ago," said Diana Bernardi, president of the California Desert Association of Realtors, in a statement. "The Coachella Valley still has some of the most affordable homes in the state."

The local Realtors Association counted 3,008 houses and 1,376 condos on the market in June, down about 12.3 percent from June 2016.

There were 1,061 home sales recorded in the desert in June, according to CoreLogic DataQuick. If homes continue to sell at that pace, the houses on the market now would take about 4.1 months to sell. Real estate agents generally consider a healthy market to have four to six months of inventory.

The valley's median-priced home sold for $185 per square foot in June.

Six of the region's ZIP codes topped that: In order, homes sold for a median of $189 per square foot in Cathedral City, $200 in Rancho Mirage, $205 in La Quinta, $238 in Indian Wells, $244 in southern Palm Springs (92264) and $250 in northern Palm Springs (92262).

Sales continued to accelerate in the Inland Empire, with 10.4 percent more homes selling in June 2017 than June 2016.

It took just 22.4 days to sell the median California home in June, the quickest pace since May 2014, according to the California Association of Realtors.

"A lack of available homes for sale continues to be the largest single factor influencing California's housing market," said California Association of Realtors president Geoff McIntosh in a statement. "Would-be sellers aren't listing their homes as many of them would also face an inventory challenge if they were to turn around and buy another property" — in other words, once they sold their homes, they would struggle to afford new ones.

Desert home sales in June 2017

Total sales: 1,061, down 5.4 percent from June 2016

New construction sales: 44, down 18.5 percent year over year

Resale single-family homes: 725, up 2.3 percent year over year

Resale condos: 292, down 18.4 percent year over year

Median sale price: $327,000, up 10.7 percent year-over-year

Median price per square foot: $185, up 8.2 percent year-over-year

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick

Rosalie Murphy covers real estate and business at The Desert Sun. Reach her at rosalie.murphy@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @rozmurph.